seachelle http://virb.com/seachelle Virb 2.0 (@seachelle) en Weekend Update http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1076876 I'm so happy that it's the weekend. I had to go into the school today to work with the Director on accreditation paperwork (we can't get anything accomplished on it during the week). We spent four productive hours working. We hope to finish on President's Day when the school is closed. Then, I will take the next week to review all of our work before it goes out. Very tedious!

My weight is down a little over a pound this week. I'm pleased with the results. We started our week with no processed foods yesterday. I'm sure this is going to have some sort of impact on my weight next weekend. We're both feeling kind of bitchy, which is to be expected. However, we know within the next couple days, we are both going to feel a lot better. We're only on the second day and already we're seeing how much bad stuff we put into our bodies. I know it's definitely going to change the way we look at food and the choices we make, which is the main point of this goal.

I've changed two of my goals on my 101 Goals list. I started looking at our finances and realized that, if we're smart, we could be debt free by the end of 2010. So, I took out two financial goals and replaced one of them with the bigger goal of becoming debt free. I then added "Study Philology" as my other new goal.

I have to say that when we were younger, we were incredibly irresponsible with money. We're definitely paying for it now, but the light at the end of the tunnel is huge in our faces now. We're really trying to build up for retirement, while saving for a house (which are so expensive out here), and paying off debt. We think we finally have our budget and plan down. We just have to stay smart about it. The fact that the end is so near will help us stay smart and frugal.

***I realize that we weren't completely irresponsible with our money when we were younger. There are always life things that come up that you have to pay for and we had to do that over the years...so...maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself.

We're kicking back and relaxing this evening. We had friends over for our weekly BSG night last night (minus Kyra because she had to work) and we're having Kyra over tomorrow so we can have some quality time with her. I'm going to bake some bread tomorrow, work on my goals and have some fun playing Rock Band!

Have a wonderful week!
]]> Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:04:19 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1076876 This Is What Total Peace Looks Like http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1069932 The day Angela and I were celebrating our five year anniversary, we decided to hike in the Cascades. We hiked Bandera Mountain. It is approximately 8 miles total. Around 3 miles into the hike, you have two choices. You can either scramble up the rocks and boulders to the top of the mountain or you can hike around the mountain to Mason Lake. On this particular day, it was wet and too slippery to scramble to the top so we opted for Mason Lake.

We ran into around 3-6 people total on the hike at this point and didn't run into anyone else on our way to the lake. It was totally quiet when we arrived and we thought we were alone, until we looked out at the lake and saw the lone fisherman on his inflatable boat. I think it was at this moment that I felt the most at peace I have ever felt in my life. I remember feeling a lump in my throat and felt the tears in my eyes at the beauty that surrounded us.

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Mason Lake (Bandera Mountain hike)
June 5, 2004

As we sat on the huge rocks along the water and watched the fisherman in the total quietness, the fog lifted off of the water. This picture is beautiful, but does not do justice to the feeling of the moment. It was my favorite Anniversary moment. This year, we celebrate 10 years since our ceremony (I can't believe it's going to be 14 total that we've been together!). I hope we can find a place just as, if not more, beautiful than that moment.
]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:23:26 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1069932 Get Well Soon! http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1069931 Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:23:25 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1069931 Completing One of Our Goals http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1062196 Angela and I decided to complete the goal of going one week without eating processed foods. We have had a few discussions on what this means to us. I decided I wanted to complete this goal, mostly because I'm in the middle of a plateau (I've been in a 2 pound weight range for over a month now) and I thought it might help me start losing weight again...and, we need to work on our goals and get some completed.

We get our CSA produce each Wednesday. I originally thought we would start the week next Wednesday with our new box. Our box contains the produce needed for Lion's Head Meatballs (one of Angela's favorite dishes). Unfortunately, this recipe has a couple of canned goods in it and, when looking at the can, I saw that there were multiple ingredients in it. So, I will make this recipe on Wednesday, leaving leftovers for Angela on Thursday. This pushes the start date to Friday.

I've made a grocery list with four different recipes, which will get us through more than half of the week and will use up our produce. Then, I will stop at the store to pick up what we need, once we figure out the rest of our recipes. This has been a tricky project. It will be interesting to see how difficult it is to get through the week. Lunch and dinner should be easy with our planning. Breakfast will be interesting. Angela usually eats cereal, which will be out for the week. I usually eat yogurt with oats, which will also be out. We are getting grapefruit in our box, which will help, and we are perfectly content eating oatmeal. We will be fine.

If any of you want to weigh in on what processed food means, please feel free. We have seen many different takes on it. I think we are in the middle of the spectrum somewhere. One end is much more relaxed. The other end would only allow fresh foods. I'm interested in getting some input.
]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:50:51 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1062196 A Funny Memory http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1059730 So...my nose is way too full right now. I have a terrible cold that seems to get worse as the day progresses. I want my nose back!

I started laughing this morning, thinking about my cousin, Sam. He is the youngest, after me, by 15 years. His parents are Microbiology Professors. This is important to know because, when he was a toddler and learning new words, they wouldn't let him say booger or snot. They wanted him to know the scientific terms of everything. He had to say mucus instead. One day, while we were all at Grandma's house, he walked up to his Mom and proudly stated, "Mom...I have music in my nose!"

Okay...this doesn't make my cold any better, but it's such a great memory and it makes me laugh at 7:00 in the morning. Have a great day, everyone!
]]> Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:50:20 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1059730 Our Beautiful New Niece! http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1057377 Angela and I took a quick trip to Dallas to meet her sister's new daughter. Ruby is a beautiful baby. We got to hold and snuggle her all weekend. She is full of smiles and has found her voice and loves to tell us everything! We both fell in love the moment we saw her and got to bond with her and spoil her. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the weekend! Enjoy!

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The Happy Family

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Sisters Enjoying Time Together

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Aunt Angela With Her New Niece

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Aunt Chelle With Ruby

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Smile For Your Aunt Chelle And Aunt Angela!




]]> Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:26:24 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1057377 25 Random Things About Me http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1054793 Okay...so I've seen these all over the place and thought it might be a fun thing to do. Some might come as a surprise to people...most probably won't.

1. I quit my job with the insurance company to write full-time (while we were going through fertility treatments). It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. While I am back to working pretty much full-time again (at a job I enjoy now), I still write in my spare time and hope to have my work published someday.

2. I have a large tattoo of angel wings on my back, which is for my partner Angela. She is having our tattoo artist work up a seashell for her tattoo in honor of me. I can't wait to see the finished product!

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Fresh Tattoo From a Few Years Ago

3. I am a not-so-secret gamer and am no longer allowed to wear my shirt that reads "Gaming Widow" because of it.

4. I have been through a miscarriage.

5. I am fiercely loyal to those I love the most and can be quite biased when it comes to them, sometimes defending them to the point where I lose other people in my life.

6. I listen to Air America on my way to and from work and have started listening to Coast to Coast downloads while on the treadmill.

7. I loved working with the elderly during my college years.

8. I caused my parents to lose a lot of sleep during my teenage years.

9. I used to listen to Pantera when I needed anger music while studying during college.

10. Angela and I met when we were neighbors at an apartment during college and my roommate and I wanted to play cards. We invited her and her roomies over and the rest is history.

11. I cry easily...always when someone else starts crying.

12. I like big, baggy sweatshirts.

13. I could easily be a vegetarian, if only Angela didn't love bacon so much...okay, I like bacon too.

14. I always wear socks to bed.

15. I've been known to talk in my sleep.

16. I no longer wear makeup.

17. I prefer hiking in the mountains to lounging on the beach.

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Beautiful Hike

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I know we're not lounging, but I love this picture of Jen and I.

18. I grew up on a farm.

19. I had a strict, religious upbringing.

20. I consider myself a Liberal and Feminist.

21. I have "white coat syndrome" when my blood pressure is taken at the doctor. It is normal at all other times.

22. When Kyra and I spend time together without Angela, we almost always end up watching "Animal House." This is why it's on my top 100 movies list.

23. I have a huge phobia of sharks. Every year I watch shark week on the Discovery Channel.

24. I also have a fear of snakes and almost all insects and spiders.

25. I would love to retire to an Eco-Village someday...as long as there is enough technology for Angela and I there.
]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:19:08 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1054793 Quick Update... http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1049981 We are getting ready to leave for our flight this morning...

A few things I am thankful for:
1. My partner and I still have jobs in this economy.
2. We get to meet our beautiful niece this weekend and spend time with family.
3. I weighed in this morning (a day early, due to our trip) and am down over a pound this week...see right column for amount left to go.
4. The wonderful advice one of my bowling teammates gives me each week...I've had two weeks now where I've bowled close to a 500 series and had four strikes in a row last night in one game. I fell apart, but still came close to that 200 game I'm working on.
]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:54:43 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1049981 Weekend Update http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1038885 It was a busy, quick week for me. We had Pre-School Preview night where about 40 schools had booths. We had a great turn-out and have already scheduled some tours with people we met that night. It was fun working the booth with Jeannine. I learn so much from her each time I hear her talk about Montessori philosophy and our school. She is a fountain of knowledge. I almost lost my voice by the end of the evening, but had a wonderful time and spoke with a lot of really nice parents.

Thursday night I bowled a new high series. My average is 129, but will certainly go up to at least 130 after Thursday night. I bowled a 481 with 134, 171 and 176 games. I know I'm going to take care of that 200 game for my 101 goals this season.

I made a big batch of Turkey Chili and we had friends over for Battlestar Galactica (BSG) last night. It was the first episode of the second half of the final season. It was very interesting. It started to answer some of the questions we had, but left us with a lot more questions as well. I hope they address the things they need to before wrapping up the series. We are looking forward to the upcoming episodes. After the show, we played some Rock Band and Carcassonne. It was a fun, relaxing evening with the best of friends.

This evening we are meeting my bowling team at the Brew House for dinner. Other than that, I exercised this morning, weighed in (see right column for weight loss), washed the car, met my boss to pick up her laptop to do some work on it....now I'm going to relax for the afternoon.


]]> Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:42:50 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1038885 This and That http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1030350 Angela got stopped on her way home from work this evening. Luckily, the police officer was quite friendly. We need to get our old car in to have the electrical system checked. Apparently, the brake lights were flickering and the middle light wasn't even on. We'll call tomorrow to get it in. She couldn't find the current insurance information and he just asked if she had insurance and let her off with a warning about the lights. He also complimented her on her "geeky" license plate. It was good he pulled her over. Otherwise, we might not have known about the problem for awhile. We checked it when she got home and it worked part of the time.

On a completely different subject matter...I do a lot of reading. Those of you who know me well already know that about me. My parents couldn't get my nose out of books when I was growing up and, understanding how important reading is for kids, never told me I couldn't read a book when I was growing up. Once I grew past Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden and the Sweet Valley High books, I went on to read almost all of the books my father had on the bookshelf, including a lot of historical fiction about the Civil War era. I never lost my love for books, going on to major in English Literature in college and also developing a passion for writing.

I used to only read one book at a time, mostly because if I didn't I ended up leaving one book for long periods of time and losing where I was. I follow a few writers' blogs and have heard some people say that they love to read multiple books at once, so I recently decided to give it a try. I am reading three books right now, along with working my way through "The Wine Bible." I will start listing the books I'm reading in the right column on this page.

Finally...someone recently said that, when they have a bad day, they write down five things they are grateful for. I am going to try to start doing this once a week. I think it will help me maintain a positive outlook on life and may help when I'm having a bad day. I invite you all to join me in this, if you would like. I may repeat them at times, depending on what I'm thinking about that day, but that's okay.
1. Angela - she is my heart. I will always be most grateful/privileged to be able to be a part of her life and her mine. I could say so much more, but this blog is already long enough.
2. Angela's Family - they are loving; they are cool people; they are both my friends and family...what more could I possibly ask for?
3. My Job - I love my job....how many people get to say that? I am so lucky to feel this way. I get to see over 20 giggly, smiling children every day. I get to watch them grow both physically and academically over time...it's an amazing journey for both them and me.
4. My Boss - I know that this kind of goes with the job, but to me it is a separate thing. Jeannine and I work so well together. I know there must be a way to emphasize that more, but I can't think of a way right now. She is my mentor and my friend.
5. Pacific Northwest Culture - I will write more about this at another time (I've been thinking a lot about it lately). I am so happy we made the move out here. It is a completely different culture than the rest of the country and we love it so much. We felt like we were being eaten alive at times by the yuppie lifestyle we were falling into when we were in Chicago. We feel like we have changed so much (for the better) since making the move out here.
]]> Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:12:13 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1030350 Saturday Rest http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1025162 We went out and met some people from Microsoft for breakfast at our favorite breakfast place, Coastal Kitchen. It was yummy!

I am not going to blog each week about my weight loss. Instead, I am going to list how much weight I have left to lose in the right column on this page. It is above my 101 Goals list. I will update it every Saturday after my weigh-in. I will post a picture at each 10 pound mark.

It's been a really busy week and we are both resting this weekend. Today, we're going to enjoy the Detroit Red Wings game. I'm going to download some Coast to Coast, thanks to Dan and Vicki, onto my Ipod so I can listen while in the car. I have had some interesting "life" conversations with Dan over email lately (not like we don't have interesting conversation at other times...) and look forward to continuing them.

Tomorrow we are going to our friend Sarah's house to watch some movies. I plan on wearing my pajamas and if I fall asleep, they can leave me be.

Momma had her teeth cleaned yesterday and ended up losing most of them in the process. The Vet said she is one of those kitties that has bad genes and that we most likely won't have to have her teeth cleaned again. I hope not...I think she may have 8 of them left! She was quite cranky until late last night when she became very cuddly and spent most of the night curled up by Angela's head purring. She will be on soft food for the next few days, but after that they said she can go back on her regular food.

I'm going to write for awhile and then hit the treadmill before the game...do a little cleaning, make some dinner later and relax.
]]> Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:51:22 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1025162 Twitch Twitch http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1023037 alt
Calliope (a.k.a. Cali)

Our little Cali...daughter of Persephone (a.k.a. Momma), sister of Helios (a.k.a. Buddy), tormentor of Chelle (during the night when I'm trying to sleep), tunneler of the sheets, tail twitcher and possibly the most adorable kitty we have ever seen. Everyone who meets her is mesmerized by her cuteness. We think she has a cuteness factor of at least an 11. This helps her when she performs her many little annoying acts on a daily basis.

Her personality is almost the exact opposite of Helios. While he was always laid back and wanted to be snuggled, she paces back and forth across our laps until she is ready to lay down. If we move in the slightest, she jumps to the floor and bolts to another room. The first time we moved after she was born, the other kitties were running around our new home. We couldn't find her for over 30 minutes. We eventually found her in the back corner of the litter box...the only place she recognized.

She loves to walk in the tub after someone takes a shower. She knows how to open the shower door, pushing with her paw until it slides open. She loves to run back and forth across our heads while we try to sleep at night. If we don't pay attention to her, she jumps on the dresser and paws items until they fall on the floor. Eventually she calms down and sleeps on Chelle (after she has kept her awake for over an hour).

When it gets cold at night, she is the first kitty to jump on the bed. She loves flannel sheets, crawling under the covers and refusing to come out. When she's in the mood to snuggle, she lays down with us and won't stop purring. Sometimes it's for a few minutes...sometimes she won't leave for hours.

She has been known to go up to anyone sitting at the desk, put her front paws on the chair and tap their leg until they let her jump up. We feel this "tap, tap, tap." We look down and her bright eyes are staring up at us...then she jumps up and smacks us with her twitching tail, only to pace back and forth on our laps purring or jump down right away.

She has a love for pens and will hunt them down. If she sees a pen, she will paw at it until it falls on the floor. Then, she bats it around awhile and walks away...she's done with it.

We love to watch her when she's on the floor. She will lay on her side, reach out and hook her claws in the carpet and pull herself along...and she repeats this, going several feet in the process. What a weirdo!

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Bonus Picture!

She hates the Vet. It traumatizes her to no end. When we put her on the table, she hooks her claws under it and no one can pick her up. She then flattens herself as close to the table as she can (we call this "flat cat"), like she's thinking to herself, "Maybe they won't see me if I stay low."

If there is anything that traumatizes her more than the Vet, it is the camera. The pictures were lucky shots. Our friend Jen has not captured her on camera yet. She can hear the camera turning on or focusing from a mile away. When she hears it, she runs. When she sees a camera, she runs. I have no idea how we got these pictures, but we got lucky.

And, she loves to hear herself "talk." When we had the townhouse, she stood at the top of the stairs and echoed down them, sometimes for several minutes. Now, she talks to herself in any room. If we talk back to her, she comes running like we want to hold her and pay attention to her. It's all about her!

Everyone is drawn to Cali. She is a cute little kitty. She looks so young most of the time...it's hard to believe she is going to be 12 this year! We love her to pieces and give her lots of love and attention (never enough in her mind). She is our little snuggle bug!
]]> Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:32:33 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1023037 Best Hairstylist Ever! http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1014012 alt
I love my hairstylist, Nikki (she also does Angela's hair and Angela loves her too). She has seen us through the many colors of the rainbow. She found my first larger amount of gray hairs (Angela found the first two and we thought they were the only ones) and told me they hide well. She won't tell me exactly how many she found. She's been with me through long hair, only to chop it off really short. She knows to remind me how much hair I have if I ever want to grow it out again.

She reassured me when I told her I wanted it short, but feminine. I told her I didn't want to wake up to have it spike up on me and not lay down. I told her I would cry if that happened. It didn't. It's a fun, feminine hairstyle that I love. She knows I'm a low-maintenance kind of girl when it comes to my hair and keeps things simple for me. I think she's looking forward to the pixie cut I told her I would let her do once I lose my weight.

She has been with us through our painful fertility journey, always cheering us on and hoping for us to have a child. She has the most infectious laugh in the world. It helped during those times, and every day, to bring smiles to our faces. She is one of the sweetest people we've ever met.

The girls at Scream are the best! We love spending time with them each month (yes, I have to have my hair cut every four weeks). It reminds us how much fun it would be to live in the city because we know we would hang out with them more than just at Scream.]]> Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:22:47 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1014012 2009 Weight Loss http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1013166 The past two weeks have not been good weight-loss weeks for me. I'm not concerned about it, but I do want to set my weight-loss goal for 2009. My birthday is on May 25th. I would like to lose the last 30 pounds by my birthday. I think this is a good goal. Short-term weight loss goals tend to make me nervous when I know I'm not going to hit them.

This will put me at the weight that Angela says I look the healthiest. I was lighter than that before, but I did not look healthy and I wasn't in shape. Once I started working out and toning up, I put on weight (and sizes) and got really nervous and hard on myself. It was at this point that Angela pointed out that I was more toned than I had ever been and who cares if I weigh 15 pounds more. I did not agree with her at the time, but I had a different vision of myself in my brain.

Some personal lessons I learned from my last weight loss:
1. When I work out, my muscles bulk up quickly. My trainer changed so many things in my weight training program during that time and it didn't make a difference. It doesn't matter what kind of weight training I do...I'm going to bulk up a bit. That's okay.
2. My body-type does not look good thin. I look best when I'm at a normal size. When I start hitting the size I was before, I start looking a bit gaunt. I don't want that.
3. I'm okay being 10-15 pounds heavier than what all the books out there tell me I need to weigh at my height...as long as I'm working out, eating right, and staying healthy.

I'm looking forward to getting rid of those 30 pounds and being comfortable with myself. I'm much more confident at my current weight than I was here before, which I think comes with age, among other things.

I'm glad the holidays are over and I get my focus back. The holidays were a lot of fun, but it's time to get back in the groove.
]]> Sun, 04 Jan 2009 04:24:50 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1013166 New Recipes http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1009986 We found a few new recipes we liked over the past week or so. I thought I would share them today. We are terrible at remembering to take pictures of the food. This is something I would like to improve on this year. The Beet and Walnut Salad was amazing. I highly recommend it, if you're in the mood for salad. The Tangerine Cream Pudding reminded us of our childhood. It has a mellow flavor and is refreshing. The Cheddar and Parsnip Soup was different from anything we have had in the past. It tasted good and went well with the homemade biscuits I made to accompany it. It will be made again during cold weather.

Beet and Walnut Salad

Ingredients:
Dressing:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3 T sugar
2 T finely chopped shallots
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
]]> Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:30:01 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1009986 Waiting for the evening to arrive...and friends... http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1009088 Our friends, Beth and Amber, asked if we would host a blind Champagne tasting this evening to celebrate New Year's Eve. We said "yes," so we are waiting for them, along with two other friends, to arrive. A couple of them have to work until 9:00, so we'll start a little late. It should be a fun, relaxing evening...which is what we look forward to on New Year's Eve every year now. We love our friends and love to get together with them as much as possible and celebrating the New Year wtih them is always fun!

We went and had the rear brake pads taken care of on the Mazda today. Then, we went and picked up our CSA delivery for the week (including extra produce we ordered to make all of our recipes). We made some tasty meals this week. I think our favorite was the Beet and Walnut Salad. It had a lemon based dressing and I added an avocado from our produce to the recipe. It was wonderful!

They included some new recipes in our box today and we immediately saw the recipe for Tangerine Cream Pudding. We still had 3 tangerines left from our last order and they needed to be used. I just finished making the pudding. It is in the refrigerator now. It smelled wonderful while I was making it. We're looking forward to trying it this evening.

We looked forward to using the Rainbow Chard the most last week and it ended up being the biggest disappointment for us. It wasn't because of it...it was because of the recipe we chose to use it in. We will definitely keep it on our list because we liked the taste. We will use a different recipe next time. I will post the salad recipe, along with the pudding recipe (if it tastes as good as it smells) in a few days.

If you can afford the payment, which isn't bad if you already purchase a lot of produce, I would highly recommend getting involved with a CSA in your area, if they are available. I love the time Angela and I spend in the kitchen opening our boxes and cleaning the produce together...it's definitely quality, happy time. We feel like we're doing the right thing. The produce has been AMAZING so far. The quality is fantastic and the flavor is excellent.

I'm trying to enjoy a few days of rest before the Open House at school this Sunday. I need to work on accreditation paperwork some this week, but am focusing on some rest. I suffer from really bad insomnia from time to time and the past couple of weeks have been worse than usual. My brain does not want to turn off at night. I don't want to take meds for it if I don't have to, but it might come to that. I am getting some rest during the day though, so that's good.

We have several (Yay!) new students starting next Monday. After the Open House, I think we will be very close to our limit! So, I have a VERY busy time coming up at work. I am going to have to close myself in the Director's office to get the accreditation finished in a timely manner. It's good for the school!!!

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all have safe, fun nights!
]]> Thu, 01 Jan 2009 07:55:21 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1009088 Weekly Weigh-In...and other things http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1002656 Let's just get it out of the way and say that I gained 1.5 pounds this week. I don't know where it came from. I ate worse than usual on Christmas Day, but other than that, I ate my normal meals. I worked out 6 days this week, but didn't push myself as hard as usual. Don't get me wrong...I worked up quite the sweat, but didn't do my longer workouts. Who knows what it was? It could be a lot of things. I did make a decision this week though.

When I lost weight before, I met with a dietitian at about this weight. I was in the middle of a plateau and needed something new. I'm going to start following that diet plan this week. At the end of the day, I will be eating close to the amount of points I would on WW, but I'm watching what I eat more. It will force me to stick with fresh foods. Here is the plan:

Breakfast: 45 grams carbs, 1 protein
Snack: 15 grams carbs, veggies
Lunch: 45 grams carbs, 1 protein, veggies
Snack: 15 grams carbs, 1 protein, veggies
Dinner: 45 grams carbs, 1 protein, veggies

I need to stay under 11 grams of saturated fat per day. I can pretty much eat all the veggies I want. Fruit counts as carbs. One regular piece of fruit is typically 15 grams of carbs.

I will do this for a few weeks and, if I don't see results, I will increase my exercise routine again and see if that helps. I'm on a weird cycle right now where I lose a lot of weight one week and then lose very little over the next few weeks. I would like to get to the point where it evens out and I lose 1-2 pounds a week, instead of the 3.5 and then less than a pound for a few weeks. I think it would be a lot healthier for me. The dietitian I met with during that weight-loss period helped me so much and I only hit one plateau after seeing her, so I'm crossing my fingers that this will see me through. I hope the fact that I'm seven years older doesn't make much of a difference!
]]> Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:04:13 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1002656 Goals for 2009 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1001847 I know...I already have 101 goals I need to work on over the next two years. Angela and I have nine goals we would like to accomplish over the next year. They are environmental goals. We've been reading a lot about environmental issues and watching some documentaries...we realize we need to make some changes. These goals are not on either of our 101 goals list...

1. Completely switch over to cloth napkins.
2. Purchase all produce from our CSA (items they do not carry will be local and organic, if possible, and purchased from our regular grocery store).
3. Become more diligent with recycling.
4. Find ways to reduce our resource usage (anything from water, electricity, gas, packaging).
5. Convince someone else to start making an effort too.
6. We want to reduce paper towel use. We will keep paper towel under the sink (out of sight) and try to use hand towels instead...will need to pick up more hand towels.
7. Purchase a clothes rack and use it to dry at least half of our laundry
8. Find and use homemade and/or environmentally friendly cleaners
9. Continue improving ziplog bag use (we have been using storage containers almost all of the time already)]]> Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:44:19 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1001847 Happy Holidays! http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1001217 I hope that each and every one of you have had a wonderful and safe holiday! I hope it was spent with loved ones. We spent the day with Angela's Mom and Step-Dad, along with two of our close friends. It was difficult not to see Angela's Dad and Step-Mom, but we got to talk to them and tell them we love them and that helps.

I promised to update all of you on the Community Support Agriculture program we signed up for. We slid our way through the ice yesterday to get our first box. It was fun opening it and seeing our produce. We have a book that tells how to store produce, so we whipped that out and read our way through the best storage methods for our goods.

We planned out our menu for the week before picking it up and already got the groceries. We used the mushrooms in our Beef Barley Stew last night and it was yummy. The cucumber was cut up into a salad today and had wonderful flavor. We split a Daisy Tangerine last night, which had bite to it. It was good. We're looking forward to using the rest over the coming days.

We logged on tonight and saw our list for next week. We planned out our menu and set up an order of the additional produce items to be delivered. I figured out a few things this week while grocery shopping. I had to go to a different store, due to the icy roads and found that groceries were much cheaper there. I refused to shop there before because their produce sucks. I figured out that if we pay a little extra for our CSA to deliver our produce, we can shop at the less expensive grocery store and save money...and we won't have to buy their produce! We'll see how this goes over the next few weeks.

I hope you are all warm and safe. We are sending lots of love!
]]> Fri, 26 Dec 2008 06:00:53 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/1001217 5-7-5 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/997264 One of my 101 goals is to write 5 poems. I decided that my first poem would be a Haiku about Buddy. I will write several before moving on to the next type of poem, but I wrote one tonight that I wanted to share and will use as my first poem.

alt
orange hue of sunshine
conversing about his day
paws pressed on my legs
]]> Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:03:36 -0800 http://virb.com/seachelle/posts/text/997264